The Bulldogs did not do much to quell those concerns in their 14-7 win over South Carolina at Williams Brice Stadium on Saturday.

For the first time in Georgia's young season, quarterback Matthew Stafford did not receive consistent protection and the Bulldogs' running game could not find much room to operate.

"They played us hard. They hit us in the mouth," center Chris Davis said of the Gamecocks. "That is a great defense. They were fast and strong. It seemed like we were playing 15 guys out there."

Georgia's offensive front spent much of the first half trying to catch up with the Gamecocks' defensive line.

Stafford was sacked twice in the first half for a total loss of 15 yards. He was nearly sacked in the first quarter before he evaded a tackle and threw an incomplete pass.

"We were just getting beat on twists and our line, down after down after down, didn't give Matthew the confidence to stand in there and make some of the throws," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

The junior quarterback was sacked a third time early in the fourth quarter deep in Georgia territory, creating a third-and-long. Coverage broke down again in the final quarter for South Carolina's fourth sack after Georgia recovered a fumble in its own end zone to hold a Gamecocks' drive.

Before Saturday, Georgia had given up just one sack for a loss of 2 yards.

"We definitely had a couple of lapses, but it was their first road game," Stafford said. "I was a little beat up, but I'm good to go."

The Bulldogs compiled just 63 yards on 18 attempts in the first half. They finished with just 106 yards rushing on 35 carries, an average of just more than 3 yards per carry.

Georgia averaged 7 yards per carry coming into Saturday.

"I don't know if you'll see a bigger, stronger group of guys than them," Richt said of South Carolina's defensive front. "I don't think we did much better (than last year). They probably won more battles than we did up front."

South Carolina's defense came into the game as the statistical leader in the SEC. Giving up an average of 181.5 yards per game, the Gamecocks led the conference and ranked ninth in the nation.

The Gamecocks' rushing defense, however, ranked 10 out of 12 in rush defense in the conference. Their three sacks Saturday moved the Gamecocks' season total to seven.

"We struggled a little bit," junior offensive lineman Vince Vance said. "They did a few things we hadn't seen before ... We are going to push through it, even though we are young and people say we are inexperienced. We are just happy to get the win."

With the SEC schedule underway, the Bulldogs offensive line knows the defenses aren't going to get any easier.

Vance said he was going to practice extra hard this week to make it up to Stafford because the quarterback had to spend so much time on his back.

Davis said watching film from Saturday's win will be all the motivation the unit needs to get that extra practice.

"We got a long way to go," the redshirt sophomore said. "There were several times we could have put the game away early and we kind of fluttered out. I was kind of pissed about that."